During a May 9 interview with Andy Cohen on “Watch What Happens Live,” she revealed exactly what she thinks of the show’s impact on her career and its overall credibility in the fashion industry. Unfortunately, Harlow’s opinions left a lot of “ANTM” fans salty — and they took to social media to express their grievances. “So I really started after the show because that really didn’t do anything for my career, which it doesn’t do anything for any model’s career realistically,” Harlow replied. Welp! “I discovered Winnie Harlow, who was on “America’s Next Top Model,” [while] scrolling through Instagram,” Tyra Banks shared during a First We Feast interview. “There was this beautiful model. African-American girl. She had vitiligo. It was the most beautiful patterns on her face and I was like, ‘I have to find her.’ And I started asking people on Instagram, ‘Who is this? Who is this?’ She ended up on “ANTM” and now she’s one of the Teen Choice Awards’ most favorite model. She’s a real supermodel now.’ “After it was known I was going to be on a reality show, no agency would book me, no one would work with me & I was told it was because I was now branded a ‘reality break out star’ not actually a model, before the show was even aired,” she revealed. “I was going to give up on modeling and go study journalism which is what I always wanted to do.” Harlow also explained that Nick Knight booked her first Diesel campaign and that she was shocked at how things played out because she was told on “ANTM” that she “wasn’t a good model.” “You can’t act like the exposure and following didn’t help you get noticed by well known photographers. She sounds ungrateful to me.” “A lot of us have grown up idolizing the construct of it and if it’s flawed or there’s more to it, 20+ cycles in, we deserve right to know.” This tweet earned a re-tweet from Winnie Harlow herself. It’s safe to say slamming a show and speaking your truth can exist together. To say a show that exists to develop models “did nothing” for your modeling career (even if true) is a real stinger. The modeling show participated in some unfortunate fat shaming, ableism, Africa shaming, and even blackface. Harlow herself was insensitively called a “panda bear” by photographer Yu Tsai during Cycle 21. He apologized to her for making fun of her vitiligo and later apologized via Twitter as well.
